


Trying to Find Prui

by Ysabetwordsmith



Series: Love Is For Children [39]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: #coulsonlives (Marvel), Boundaries, Boundary Issues, Bullying, Clumsiness, Competence Kink, Competency, Emotional Baggage, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Facing the past, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Games, Gen, Hydra (Marvel), Insecurity, Isolation, Nostalgia, Ostracism, Past Abuse, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protectiveness, SHIELD, Social Anxiety, Tactile, Team Bonding, Team Dynamics, Team Feels, Team Fluff, Team as Family, Teambuilding, Teamwork, Touch-Starved, Touching, Trust, Trust Issues, touch issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-13
Updated: 2018-01-13
Packaged: 2019-03-04 04:51:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13356882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ysabetwordsmith/pseuds/Ysabetwordsmith
Summary: Several of the Avengers witness a bullying incident on the Helicarrier.  Bucky and Steve intervene.  Phil leads a new teamwork exercise.





	Trying to Find Prui

**Author's Note:**

> This story meets the Day 12 requirement for the Fandom Snowflake Challenge.
> 
> A note on feedback: While it's not necessary to comment on every post I make, remember that I don't know who reads/likes things if nobody says anything. Particularly on long stories, I've discovered that I get antsy if there's nothing but crickets chirping for several posts. So it helps to give me feedback at least once, even if it's just "I like this" or "This one doesn't grab me." First and last episodes are ideal if you rarely feel inspired to comment in the middle.

The Avengers sat in the SHIELD cafeteria with Clint, Tony, Bucky, and Steve clustered around Phil. It was crowded enough for people to keep bumping into each other, and while most of the interactions were polite, not all of them were. Grant banged his hip on the corner of the table where Daveed was sitting, and took out his temper on Daveed. Of course, once Grant started, several of the other muscle men joined in picking on the nerd. Clint winced in sympathy; people had been harsh to him too after the Helicarrier incident. Phil started to stand up, because he had never managed to quash the conflict between field and home agents, but he could certainly interrupt it when it flared up right in front of him.

Just then Bucky looked over and said, "Aww, _hell_ no." He walked up to the looming agents and laid a friendly-looking hand on Grant's shoulder. But it was his _left_ hand, and Phil could see the casual clench of fingers over sensitive nerve clusters. "I think you boys got somewhere else to be," Bucky declared, then gave his captive a push toward the door.  
  
The big man staggered. The other agents glared at Bucky.  
  
He flexed his hand and _smiled_ at them. They broke and hurried toward the door.  
  
Then Bucky turned to Daveed. "I can't stand bullies," he said. "Is this seat taken?"  
  
"Uh ... I guess not," Daveed said as he hunched in his seat.  
  
Phil appreciated Bucky's stance against bullying, but hoped that he wouldn't have to go over there and rescue the little introvert from Bucky's well-meaning advances. He needn't have worried. As Phil watched, Bucky gently coaxed Daveed into talking, their voices so low that it was impossible to overhear the conversation. Well, impossible for him, anyway. From the little smile on Steve's face, Phil suspected that the super-soldier could hear it all.  
  
Sure enough, a few minutes later Steve wandered over to the pair and said, "Can I join the fun?"  
  
Daveed startled, looking up at him with a mix of awe and panic. "Um, um, whatever you like."  
  
"Let's just go back to our table. It's bigger. Come on, Daveed, you can sit with us," said Bucky.  
  
"There -- there aren't enough chairs. I don't want to take someone else's," Daveed stammered.  
  
"There's always room for one more," Steve said firmly at the same time Bucky said, "I got this," and scooped up a chair with one hand. They led Daveed back to the Avengers table.  
  
"Hi, guys," said Bucky, and quickly introduced each of the Avengers, finishing with, "This is our friend Daveed who works in the Helicarrier engine control."  
  
"Hi," Clint said, clearly making an effort to include Daveed. "Thanks for keeping our pie in the sky."

"Welcome," Daveed whispered.

"Oh hey -- you're the one who spotted the virus that HYDRA slipped into the steering protocols," Tony said, his voice brightening. "That was brilliant. You should totally come work for me, I pay way better than SHIELD and with less chance of getting shot at."  
  
"Tony, don't poach my personnel," Phil warned. "We have a hard enough time with staff retention already." It was a credible threat, because HYDRA operatives had _gotten_ into the engine room before and threatened to shoot Daveed for refusing to help them. The last thing Phil needed was to lose one of his best people.  
  
Daveed was still staring open-mouthed at Tony, trying to process a compliment from one of the world's best programmers. "Ah -- I -- well, like my current job," he finally managed. "It's important."

"Yes, it is, and that's why I don't want to lose you," Phil said. "We need the Helicarrier, and the Helicarrier needs you."

Daveed ducked his head and blushed, but he was smiling. "Thanks."

"Come on, guys, no shoptalk over the table," Steve said.  
  
"I'm just saying, he knows his code," Tony argued. "Fine, we'll tangent to happier code. Daveed, do you like computer games?" It took a little work, but Tony managed to entice Daveed into a conversation about gaming and programming and flight simulators that Phil could only follow halfway.

Meanwhile Clint had taken to scoping the room, and glaring at anyone who got too close to their table. Between him and Bucky, no more troublemakers tried to approach. That left Tony and Steve to socialize with Daveed. Phil simply sat back and observed the flow of conversation and body language.

Eventually the discussion of video games wound down. "So how did all this bullying start?" Steve said. "People in the same unit are _supposed_ to have each other's backs."

"SHIELD has ... some personnel challenges," Phil said delicately. "Our recruits come from many different sources, and they don't always mesh smoothly. Different departments don't always get along." Much of that was Director Fury's fault, but Phil left that part unspoken.

"It's gotten worse since," Clint began. His voice hitched, and then recovered enough to conclude, "the Battle of New York. Morale really took a beating in that."

"Well then, people should be sticking up for each other, not tearing each other down," Bucky said. "You don't fix a busted engine by beating on it with a wrench."

Steve coughed and blushed a little. "Yeah, what he said."

"Daveed, how do you feel about this?" Phil asked gently. "Another perspective might help us untangle this issue."

"SHIELD is a good place to work. It has cutting-edge equipment and smart, strong people. It's just ... I feel like I'm always trying to find Prui, but nobody will let me play," Daveed said sadly.

"I hate that game," Clint said. "I always wind up getting groped. It's gross."

"That's awful," Daveed said. "I usually just get pinched or tripped."

"There will be no groping, pinching, or tripping in any game of Prui that I supervise," Phil said firmly. "Games teach teamwork, but that does not work if players cheat or mistreat each other."

"What's Prui?" Steve asked.

"It's a game about belonging," Phil said. "You need a lot of people to play; several dozen is ideal. Everyone closes their eyes and mills around. When you bump into someone, you shake hands and say, 'Prui?' Whoever is Prui will not respond and keeps ahold of your hand. Then you both become Prui, and pull in other people with your free hands, until everyone is stuck together."

"What's the point in that?" Bucky said, frowning.

"It helps teamwork, because the Prui has to cooperate in order to move at all," Phil said. "That's the public answer. Less obviously, it's an opportunity to practice valuable espionage skills such as blind movement and observation with other senses. Can you avoid bumping into people, or find people to contact? Can you deduce who is Prui based on what you're _not_ hearing?"

"Wow," Daveed said. "I never thought about it like that before. I only played it at school or summer camps, and it was more for fun than anything educational. I wish I'd gotten a chance to try it that way."

"Well, we can take care of that right now," Phil said, rubbing his hands together. "There are plenty of agents around; I'll just bring in enough for a special exercise in teamwork."

 _"Here?"_ Tony squeaked, his eyes going wide.

"I'm sure Agent Barton recalls my reputation for leading exceptional activities," Agent Coulson replied.

"Everybody wants in on those. You never know what's going to happen, it's just always worthwhile," Agent Barton said. "But what if ... some people ... might not want to join in?"

"The exercise is optional," Phil said. "Nobody has to play if they don't want to. Some people might want to watch instead, or help organize the game. Even playing in a safe space like the gym here, we need several watchers to make sure nobody gets hurt, or help people up if they trip."

"Yeah, that's a good idea," said Daveed. "It's harder on rough ground, outdoors, but even on a smooth floor somebody always falls down."

"Is everyone finished with lunch?" Phil asked.

"Yes," most of the Avengers chorused. Steve shoved the tail end of his sandwich into his mouth and nodded. Bucky automatically began clearing their table.  
  
"Leave that for the busboys this time," Phil said as he stood up. "We don't have an infinite amount of time, and people often want to play this game several times."

"Yes, sir," Bucky said. He abandoned the dishes to follow Phil.

As they walked through the halls toward the gym, it was almost like a pregame of Prui. Phil watched for suitable people, touched each one lightly on the shoulder, and said, "We're doing a special exercise in teamwork. Would you like to join us?" Most of them agreed, and soon he had several dozen people eddying along in his wake. He found his new recruits, too, with Wesson, Clark, Brown, and Gable joining one at a time. Predictably, the male pair Jackson and Johnson were together, as were the female pair Brooks and Moore.

Word spread through the grapevine, and more agents began to drift in their direction. Phil pulled them in or sent them away as appropriate, most of the latter with promises to find them another activity later. Then Grant sidled up to him. Daveed promptly hid behind Bucky, who closed his metal fingers into a fist.

"Hey, I heard you're doing a training exercise," Grant said. "Include me in!"

"You are not invited to this activity," Agent Coulson said, his voice cooling. "I was not in the least impressed by your behavior in the cafeteria. If you want to improve your teamwork skills, I believe Dr. Samson has a unit on Trust and Reliance. Start with that, and then I'll re-evaluate your potential as a member of a picked team for specialized exercises."

"Yes, sir," Grant said glumly, and trudged away.

The tiny smile on Daveed's face was reward enough for Phil.

By that time, they had reached the gym. Phil found a smallish room that was not currently in use. He needed a space that would minimize the tendency to spread out. He ushered his participants into the room and shut the door, which logged the space as occupied.

"All right, ladies and gentlemen, today we're doing a teamwork activity. The name of the game is Prui," Phil said, and summarized the rules. "While playing, I expect everyone to treat your teammates with respect. Observe as much as you can; try to use senses other than sight. There will be paperwork available afterwards on the topics of teamwork and learning, for anyone who wishes to document their professional development."

That generated a happy murmur. Everyone knew his tendency to attach perks for doing the proper paperwork.

"Anyone not wishing to play this round may help me monitor instead. Monitors, pick a corner and stand in it," Phil said. Clint and Wesson promptly cornered. "Everyone else, close your eyes and start milling around. I will designate the Prui by tapping someone on the shoulder twice."  
  
The crowd started moving. Phil quickly homed in on the nearest of the nascent foursquare, which happened to be Brooks, and tapped her on the shoulder. Clint and Wesson both grinned at the choice. Phil activated the stopwatch function on his watch to see how long it took the foursquare to form up, wanting a gauge of their social proprioception. Clearly all of them had a subliminal sense of each other building, and he intended to facilitate that.  
  
It took less than a minute for Brooks and Moore to find each other, followed not long after by Jackson and Johnson. They moved well together already, with few false starts. It would be good for FitzSimmons to have other tight pairs around, and for that matter, good for Bruce-and-Hulk too.

Daveed seemed to be enjoying himself, but he wasn't very good at the game. He kept stumbling even though nobody was _trying_ to trip him. Bucky caught him at least once, and Clint had to save him from bashing into a wall. People kept plowing into Steve from his left, because he was so used to having Bucky cover that side. Tony was a _disaster,_ barely able to navigate at all.

 _Tony is too reliant on JARVIS to serve as his auxiliary senses and navigation,_ Phil realized. _He definitely needs more practice like this._  
  
As the room became quieter, the unattached spies began actively stalking each other and the Prui, using their ears and their skin with widely varying levels of skill. Phil made notes of the best and the worst. Finally everyone had connected into one large mass.

"Well done, everyone," Phil said. "Everyone open your eyes and see who you're connected to. Those of you writing reports should make notes on your relationship with that teammate, and consider each other for followup activities later this week. There will be a bonus for that."

Tony's bright, "Yay!" cut through the quiet air, making people chuckle. He had wound up between Daveed and Brown.

"Next round," Phil said. "Shuffle the corners if you wish."

Wesson and Clint stepped into the crowd. Tony, Brooks, and Moore stepped out. Phil started the blind shuffle again, this time tapping Steve as Prui.

Just from watching, Phil could tell that Bucky identified Steve's status almost immediately, and started searching. They found each other quickly, although they switched hands by silent agreement so that Steve held onto Bucky's left with his own, facing in opposite directions. They moved as if one body guided by a single mind, so smooth that Brooks sighed in envy.

"You'll get there," Phil murmured to her. "It takes practice."

"Yes, sir," she whispered back, and then had to dart into the crowd to scoop Daveed off the floor.

 _It's a good thing he works in the engine room, not in the field,_ Phil thought. _He really doesn't have the right kind of dexterity for this game._

Daveed clearly had fun anyway, though. He wound up between Clint and Gable, both of them invested in keeping him upright. This round took a little longer to complete without the foursquare at the center of it, but most of the players still performed well.

They played a few more rounds, and then Phil motioned for everyone to sit down. He collected several tablet computers from a cabinet and opened an attendance form. Then he synchronized them so that the JARVIS could compile and correlate the answers into a single report.  
  
"Everyone, please log your activity," Phil said as he distributed the tablets. "That will put you on a list to receive the mailing so you can read my event report and do any of the followup activities which appeal to you."

Phil waited until enough of the participants had logged themselves that people were paying attention to him instead of the tablets. "How many of you are still in physical contact with someone?" he asked. "Raise your free hands."

Over two thirds of the crowd did so. Some of them were grinning. The foursquare had raised all of their joined hands, since Johnson and Brooks were between Jackson and Moore. Other people looked startled to realized that they were, indeed, still touching someone.

"That's the effect of teamwork," Phil said. "When done right, it lowers barriers and raises connection. Can anyone think of other things it does?"

"It would help people learn how to move in a line," Bucky said. "You need that for mountain climbing or in blizzards. This is a lot safer place to practice those skills."

"I had a really hard time getting around with my eyes closed," Tony said. "I'm too, uh, used to doing it differently."

"That's all right," Phil said. "Blindfighting, HUD, and related tactics each need different skills and all take practice. Nobody's good at them immediately."

From the thoughtful look on Tony's face, though, he'd already thought of someone who navigated well without vision. Phil wondered how long it would take for him to track down Matt Murdock and hustle him for hints.

"Monitors? Would you care to make observations of your own?" Phil said.

"Some people move really well together," Clint said. "Brooks and Moore, you two were amazing. If you haven't tried back-to-back fighting yet, get on that."

Moore shook her head. "We tried it on our own, but our trainer said not to, that it's a more advanced technique and we should learn the basics first."

"Barnes and Rogers, wow," Brooks with a sigh. "That was a thing of beauty. I wish we could do that, but Moore's right about our trainer."

"I'll speak with your trainer, and put a note in your file to let you try pair positions early. You two, Jackson and Johnson," said Phil. "If you show potential this soon, it's worth supporting, because your training affects the reflexes you're trying to develop. Begin as you mean to go on."

Wesson raised his hand. "Ah, I noticed that some people don't move as well, even alone," he said. "That's a risk even for noncombat personnel. What if the power goes out? They'd be at a disadvantage. Do we have any exercises for ... I don't know what to call the thing we were doing, careful navigation maybe? Like an obstacle course but with smaller stations, you could probably make one just by changing around mats on the floor."

"That's an excellent idea," Phil said. "I'll speak with a few people and see what we can put together. Anyone in this group is welcome to help us develop that as a followup activity."

Tony said, "Stark Industries will pony up alternative gym equipment if you need it. Check with Reed Richards too, if you're designing it for people with exceptional physique. Between us we do a lot of materials development and product design for that sort of thing."

"Thank you, that will be very helpful," Phil said, and made a note.

That sparked its own little aftergame as most of the people piled into the discussion of how to practice blind motion alone or together, how to develop a soft obstacle course, other types of teamwork and fitness, and so on. Then Daveed piped up, "This would make a really neat video game for multiplayer platforms."

That sent them haring off on a whole new tangent, with the little introvert happily in the middle of the crowd for once.

Phil smiled. _Mission accomplished._

**Author's Note:**

> [Prui](http://www.deepfun.com/prui-2/) is fundamentally a [game about belonging and teamwork](http://www.deepfun.com/belonging-and-longing-to-belong/). [Belonging is a deep-seated human need](https://hec.unil.ch/docs/files/56/618/b_and_m_need_to_belong_pb.pdf); loneliness ruins [physical and mental health](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/feb/17/loneliness-report-bigger-killer-obesity-lonely-people). Good employers promote [teamwork](https://www.thebalance.com/how-to-build-a-teamwork-culture-1918509) and [friendship](https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/251013) on the job.
> 
> [Grant Ward](http://agentsofshield.wikia.com/wiki/Grant_Douglas_Ward) comes from [Agents of SHIELD](http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Marvel%27s_Agents_of_S.H.I.E.L.D.).
> 
> [This is Daveed](https://zaccurrell.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/download-8.jpg). He's Jewish. In [The Winter Soldier](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_America:_The_Winter_Soldier), he's the one who [refused to launch the HYDRA helicarriers](https://zaccurrell.wordpress.com/2015/04/25/spoilers-avengers-age-of-ultron-like-a-lot-of-spoilers/), even though he expected to be killed for it. Now that's _heroism. EDIT 1/13/18: GuestQ notes that this character reappears in Age of Ultron as Cameron Kline._  
>   
> [Bullying](http://preventingbullying.promoteprevent.org/what-bullying) can be a serious problem [in the workplace](http://www.workplacebullying.org/individuals/problem/definition/). The [circle of bullying](http://aldiatoday.com/bekindinitiative/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/BullyingCircle.jpg) shows the different roles. [Being an upstander](http://www.sweenyisd.org/UserFiles/Servers/Server_325171/File/Parents/SHAC/Bullying/10WaystoBeanUpstander_copy.pdf) is one way to [deal with workplace bullying](http://www.wikihow.com/Deal-with-Workplace-Bullying-and-Harassment). Steve and Bucky have been doing this about since they could walk and talk. <3
> 
> [Shoulder anatomy](http://scapulothoracicdysfunction.weebly.com/neurological.html) shows why there are [a number of pressure points](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/6a/b5/4b/6ab54b92e7ecff01aba701410f2c2074.jpg) that are [vulnerable to attack](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/5AjVLJhxq3E/maxresdefault.jpg). You can trigger them with ordinary fingers, or an object such as a pen. Imagine how much better it works with a whole metal hand!
> 
> Wesson, Clark, Brown, Gable; the male pair Jackson and Johnson; and the female pair Brooks and Moore are all relatively new SHIELD recruits introduced in the earlier story "[Coming in from the Cold: Tuesday: Facing Fears](https://ysabetwordsmith.dreamwidth.org/10765777.html)."
> 
> Agent Coulson offers paperwork on [teamwork](http://www.julnet.com/tblc/newsletter/images/ofstad_figure2.png), [learning](https://images.twinkl.co.uk/tw1n/image/private/t_630/image_repo/bd/ed/T-HE-010-What-I-Learned-Today-Template_ver_1.jpg), and a [post-event report](http://www.printabletemplate.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Post-Event-Report-Template.png).

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Cover art for "Trying to Find Prui"](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14770181) by [Lehorin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lehorin/pseuds/Lehorin)




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